This invention relates to improvements in techniques for gill netting of herring, salmon and other fish and, more particularly, concerns improvements that improve the speed and efficiency with which fish caught in the net can be removed during net hauling operations. The invention is herein illustratively described by reference to its presently preferred form and application; however, it will be appreciated that certain modifications and changes may be made without departing from the essential features involved.
Gill nets used in fishing for salmon in the Bristol Bay area, for example, are typically 14 feet wide (i.e., between cork line and lead line). Those used for herring are commonly 18 feet wide. On most vessels the net is hauled by a power driven storage drum. The net comes in over a horizontal stern roller as a compacted rope-like mass. On its way to the storage drum, it traverses an open deck area where the fisherman has access to it for picking off the fish while operating a treadle switch or hydraulic valve controlling the drum drive motor. The process of net hauling and attendant net picking can be quite slow and tedious. The fish are often buried in a mass of wraps and folds that must be opened up to get at them. Furthermore, fish are often lost overboard in the process. If the hauled net is first heaped on deck, the task of pulling apart the folds and spreading the mesh to remove the fish is very slow and laborious! The present invention is concerned with these problems and shortenings of present techniques. Its general objectives is to both facilitate and expedite the net hauling and fish removal operation while reducing overboard losses.
In accordance with this invention, a special gill net that can be manufactured at little or no greater cost than conventional nets cooperates with auxillary novel hauling gear that can readily be mounted on new vessels or as retrofit equipment on existing vessels over the open deck area between the takeup device and the incoming net guide. The improved system, which can be made to adjust for different net widths, not only facilitates removal of the catch, but also minimizes net damage during hauling and fish removal. It also facilitates removal of driftwood and other debris caught in the mesh before it reaches the take-up drum where entrapment compression forces can also tear the mesh. The improved system affords to the fisherman a convenient opportunity to inspect the net for damage and repair requirements in the process of hauling the catch. It thereby saves time in conducting separate inspections.
A further object of this invention is to provide a system which, with minor revision or addition to a conventional net, provides more favorable distribution of tension forces in the net during hauling, thereby lengthening its useful life and improving the uniformity of wrap on the storage drum when a drum is used as the take-up device.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a gill net hauling and fish picking system wherein a two-man crew can be used to maximum advantage with the efforts of one complementing rather than impeding those of the other.
A specific object is to devise an improved gill net hauling system that inherently opens the mesh of the net stretched under hauling tension so as to facilitate removal of fish whether by picking or by shaking of the net.